Day 4670

Today was uneventful for me, but it is Dawn's favorite day. Janet does her grocery shopping on Friday and Dawn loves to supervise in the kitchen while she puts all the food away. All I have to do is tell Dawn that it's "grocery day" and she gets all excited.

We started the day with our usual sunrise walk. We got started a little later this morning so it wasn't quite as dark. Unfortunately, the days keep getting shorter. The sun was already up when we did this walk in the summer. Today a few stars were still shining at 6:45 AM. 

The weather was cool and there was a nice breeze, so I decided to walk in the park again instead of going to the gym. I've definitely had better days. My pace was slower this morning and I felt tired when I returned home. I have no idea why my performance varies so much from day to day. Maybe I didn't get enough sleep last night.

I decided to apply for credentials to attend the next Falcon Heavy launch. The timing isn't ideal, since the USSF-44 Mission is supposed to take place at the end of October, only a month away from the next Artemis attempt. I attended the last Falcon Heavy launch three years ago and always wanted to see another. I'm not sure I can afford two trips to Florida so close together, but we'll see what happens. When I apply for press credentials, I'm never sure if I'll get approved.

I'm thinking about getting a new phone. My old phone works just fine, but it's hard to ignore all the promotional advertising I get on an almost daily basis from AT&T and T-Mobile. I guess it would be nice to have a better camera. I use my iPhone camera a lot more than my professional cameras. I probably wouldn't get the new iPhone 14. An iPhone 13 on sale sounds a lot more attractive. Maybe I won't get anything at all. I always think about buying stuff I don't need when I get bored.

Dawn is still leaving the room when I want to take a nap during the day. This is unfortunate, because I enjoy taking a good nap. I feel guilty when Dawn leaves the room though. It is her room. She spends most of the day in the bedroom and it's the one room in the house where she feels completely comfortable. I'm just going to have to get used to the fact that Dawn was treated very badly by men when she was used as a breeding dog. She has had a hard life and there's no particular reason why she should trust me. 

The failing dryer belt seems to be getting worse. I was hoping that it would last for a while, but I'll probably have to call the appliance repairman again soon. I'm really tired of things breaking or wearing out. Something around the house always seems to be on its last legs. I need to take my car in for a service appointment pretty soon as well. It's always something. I'd much rather spend my money on trips to the space center.

Tomorrow is my grocery day. Dawn is not nearly as excited when I return with groceries. I tend to get unexciting things like bottled water and laundry detergent. Janet brings sliced turkey and cheese.

Harshey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3470

The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is a beautiful place on a clear night. When we arrived at our destination on the shores of the Banana River around 1 AM, a copper colored moon was just starting to rise on the Eastern Horizon. Behind us, Jupiter was shining brightly just above the constellation of Scorpio. The sky was dark enough that I could actually see the Milky Way for the first time in years. Directly ahead, something else was shining brightly on the horizon. It was the Falcon Heavy rocket bathed in searchlights at launch pad 39A.

The launch was supposed to take place at 11:30 PM yesterday evening, but got delayed for three hours because of a minor technical problem on the pad. There was a lot of nervousness within our group as we began to hear rumors of the delay. When the countdown clock stopped and went dark, we were afraid that the launch might be canceled. When the rumors began circulating, we were scattered between Cocoa Beach and Titusville eating dinner before returning to meet the bus that would take us to our viewing location.  Lots of messages went back and forth before a new plan was announced. The launch would still take place and had been rescheduled for 2:30 AM this morning.

We were prepared for something dramatic, but the launch exceeded everyone's expectations. When the countdown clock reached zero, there was an intense flash of light on the horizon. An enormous trail of fire rose quickly into the sky, followed about ten seconds later by the thundering sound of 27 Merlin engines. Literally in a matter of seconds, darkness was turned into day.

Night launches are spectacular because you can see the rocket much longer. As the Falcon Heavy climbed in a graceful arc toward orbit, we could clearly follow the rocket all the way through stage separation and second stage ignition. The return of the two side boosters to Space X Landing Zones 1 and 2 was amazing. The two side boosters began their boostback burn almost directly over our heads.  Less than a minute later we saw the second stage engine start. The side boosters continued to fall rapidly as the second stage slowly faded from sight. About seven minutes after liftoff, the two side boosters simultaneously began their entry burn and started to slow down rapidly as they approached the landing zone. We saw puffs of smoke from the rockets exhausts rising from the landing zone indicating a successful landing and less than a second later heard two incredibly loud sonic booms. Sound travels slowly and the sonic booms arrived at our location after the boosters had actually landed.

Although the center core failed to land on a drone ship positioned over 1,000 miles away in the Atlantic Ocean, the mission was a huge success. The side boosters which had already been used before on a previous Falcon Heavy mission proved their worth again. All of the 24 satellites were deployed successfully. The brilliant people we talked to during the past two days who had spent years and years developing these payloads must have been very happy this morning.

Our little group of social media mavens were happy too. For many of us this was a dream come true. We had been up for over 24 hours, but I'm sure that some of us were already making plans in our mind to do this again. It is inspiring to see people succeed at doing something so complicated. As I returned to my hotel to pack my bags and return to Dallas, I felt like I had made some new friends and witnessed something important. I'm not always a positive person, but I felt good as I was flying home today. If humans can do something this complicated just by working together, we can do anything.

Shiner is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3469

The weather looks beautiful and the launch is still on for tonight. Amazingly, we were granted direct access to Pad 39A today and got a close up look at the Falcon Heavy rocket during final preparations for launch. To get this close we went through laver after layer of security. When our group got off the bus, everyone was astonished. Nobody gets this close. We were all very careful to follow instructions. When we were told not to cross certain lines, nobody did. 39A is the same launch pad where dozens of space shuttle flights began their journey. Numerous Apollo missions were launched here as well. Now, Space X has a long term lease on the pad and many future missions will begin here. There is a lot of history in this place and a lot of history yet to be made.

Launch Complex 39 was built during the Apollo era. Pads 39A and 39B were originally identical and were meant to be used for the Saturn 5 program. After the Apollo program ended, the facilities were modified to be used for the Space Shuttle. Every shuttle launch began their journey here. Now these historic launch facilities are being modified again. 39A has been reconfigured by Space X to be used for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches and 39B is currently being refurbished to be used by the new Space Launch System that will take us back to the moon.

We got very close to 39A when we were looking at the Falcon Heavy rocket on the pad. We got even closer to 39B. The director of the launch complex took us right up on the pad itself and we got to walk around on it. The size and scope of both these facilities is impressive. There are huge round tanks for liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel. Some of the steel used in the facility is three inches thick. Each pad has a large water tower that is completely emptied during each launch to cool the pad and provide noise suppression. At one point we found ourselves standing in the blast pit where flames from the Saturn 5 booster were directed during liftoff.  If you saw the movie Apollo 11, you know how intense these flames were. We were standing right there.

It was a very busy day. There were other presentations by payload specialists. Many of them started making preparations for tonight's launch over ten years ago. It takes a long time to turn a dream into a reality. 24 different satellites will be along for the ride tonight. An amazing amount of work and effort went into each of them.

We also got to see the astronaut crew quarters where every astronaut stayed prior to launch. Some people took videos of themselves walking out the famous doors where we used to see astronauts in space suits get in their Airstream van for the short ride out to the pad. We also got to meet the folks who recover the capsules after splashdown and provide emergency medical services if necessary. The complexity and number of people required to get a rocket to it's destination and back again is almost unbelievable. The space program we know today is only here because of the commitment of thousands and thousands of talented and extremely dedicated people with almost unlimited resources.  Every one of them were determined to beat the Russians to the moon. I don't think something like this could happen today.

I'll be heading out to view the launch in about an hour. We won't get back to town until well after midnight, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if the launch was a success. I don't usually stay up this late, but today I think I'll make an exception.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3465

It was so hot today that all I really wanted to do was drink cold beverages. I need to start taking water with me on my walks. You sweat so much in this hot, humid weather that I've started to think that dehydration might be a risk. I always made sure that the dogs had water when we walked in the Summer, but I was never that concerned about myself. Maybe you sweat more when you get older, or maybe this is just a particularly bad summer.

It looks like the Falcon Heavy launch is actually going to happen. The rocket had a successful static fire late last night and the weather in Florida seems to be improving. I think some of the other social media folks attending this event have already started their journey. The people NASA selects tend to come from all over the place. Several people are traveling from Seattle. At least one person is coming from San Diego. More people are making a very long drive than I expected. I'm still glad I decided to fly. I don't think I have the stamina for a long drive anymore. I'm just hoping that I don't throw my back out while I'm there.

The little baby monitor that we always used to keep an eye on Dot and Dash while we were away broke during the power outage. There are no dogs to watch now, but it still bothers me to have broken things around the house. I contacted the manufacturer and they told me that the unit will not function without a working backup battery. I know the lithium ion battery is bad, but replacing it won't be easy. After making a few calls I learned that the battery isn't being made anymore. They probably make much better and cheaper webcams these days, but I am determined to fix this thing. I'll add it to my list of broken things that need fixing.

I got an e-mail today that began with "I understand that you developed our website. We need to make some changes..." Wrong. I'm the guy you fired after the client decide to put one of his lazy kids in charge of the marketing department. The kids friends build a brand new website and then probably disappeared. The guy who wrote me sounded desperate, but I told him that the company's website wasn't mine and that I didn't even know how to access it. If there is a lesson in all this it is that you should never hire your kids to take over the marketing department. It seldom turns out well.

I need to decide what to take on my trip. Mostly this just involves finding some comfortable shoes. If you're on your feet all day, good shoes are critical. NASA has a dress code, but it shouldn't be a problem for a guy like me. I wouldn't be wearing shorts, open toed shoes, or tank tops anyway. Sometimes they encourage you to bring your own food. There aren't any restaurants out at the launch pad. I actually wish I had brought my own food while I was in Houston. I went all day without eating anything.

I don't want to go all day without eating anything tomorrow, but I don't really feel like going out for breakfast. Maybe I'll just stay home and finish what's left of the fresh fruit. A peach and a banana sounds fine when you're not that hungry.

Alamo is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3464 - My Birthday

Another trip around the sun has been completed. Last year at this time I felt old. This year I feel like each additional year is a bonus. Janet and I are reasonably healthy. I don't have much of a bucket list or any grand plans, but there is nothing stopping me from pursuing anything that capture my fancy. I have no idea what the future holds for me, but at this age it's good to still be among the living.

Birthday's are pretty subdued when you're 71. I had my smoothie, took my morning walk and picked up a prescription at the pharmacy. It was very hot today, so one walk was plenty. Janet and I went out for a birthday dinner tonight. I love barbecue, so we tried out a new smokehouse in the neighborhood.  I had burnt ends, fried okra, and cilantro coleslaw. It was delicious.

We always have Sprinkles cupcakes on birthdays, but it was weird not having any special doggie cupcakes for the dogs. For years and years we always got doggie cupcakes for Dot and Dash. They were always more excited about our little birthday celebrations than we were. It was pretty quiet this year. Even the dog's bowls are gone; carefully stored away in my storage warehouse.

I'm still waiting to see it the static fire test of the Falcon Heavy rocket takes place tonight. This is a key step along the way to a successful launch. There were thunderstorms and lightning warnings at the space center earlier today. Hopefully things will clear up so the test can take place. I'm really glad I decided not to drive to Florida. We would have been leaving tomorrow with no idea whether the launch would actually take place. As things stand now, I don't have to make a decision about my travel plans until late Friday night. Lets hope the weather clears up.

I think it's raining everywhere. There are thunderstorms this evening at Kennedy Space Center. It's raining where my sister lives. And North Texas has severe weather warnings for the third night in a row. Thunder and lightning woke me up again last night. It was probably a good thing because while I was awake I remembered I had forgotten to take my evening meds. If you wonder what it's like to be 71, all I can say is that you'll probably become more forgetful. We got a lot of rain last night, but at least we didn't lose power again.

Hopefully, it will be quiet tonight. I'm getting behind on sleep again. There's something about severe weather that makes sleep difficult. I'm always worried about roof leaks and power outages. I'd much rather be having mildly pleasant dreams about being lost somewhere. Maybe the launch date will be finalized tomorrow. I'd like to cross this uncertainty off my perpetual worry list.

Inky is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3461 - Father's Day

Good grief. Our power went out again last night. As I was calling in the outage report, I had visions of ice cream melting in the freezer and an immediate need for large quantities of ice. Jeez. We'd just finished returning the ice chests to the storage warehouse and replacing the spoiled food in the refrigerator. Enough is enough. Luckily, this appeared to be an isolated outage and power was restored early this morning.

Unfortunately, the bad weather wasn't over when the electricity was restored. We had sporadic severe weather warnings for the rest of the day. There was lots of rain accompanied by loud thunder. At one point we were even under a tornado warning. The worst is over now, but the forecast still shows we are in store for more thunderstorms tomorrow.

The weather doesn't look so good in Florida either. Launch day still look good on the long range forecast, but the entire week leading up to the launch shows rain. A weather cancelation is certainly a possibility. Flying to Florida is starting to look a lot more attractive than driving. The thought of being on a freeway all day with eighteen wheelers on either side of me throwing up rooster-tails of water on my windshield doesn't sound fun at all. There are already flooding problems in Mississippi. With more rain, it could get worse. If I fly, I'm going to book something that allows same day flight changes. I have a feeling that schedules are going to change several times between now and the Falcon Heavy launch.

The weather was terrible today but at least I got to go to the gym before the severe weather warnings started appearing on my phone. There were no walks today and Janet and I had to curtail other activities because of the tornado warning. I really shouldn't complain. The roof isn't leaking and we've still got power. Only one of the pumps on the roof isn't working, but at least the other one is. We're on high ground, so there is little risk of flooding no matter what the weather decides to do. All that being said, I'm still sick of all this rain. We deserve some nice weather before the Summer heat returns to stay.

I still hear thunder off in the distance. I hope the bad weather keeps moving to the East. It was a loud thunderclap and bolt of lightning that woke me up last night. About ten seconds later the power went out. It was hard to get back to sleep. I kept thinking about what I would need to do the next morning if the power failed to return. I could feel my resting heart rate start to rise as I lay in bed listening to the rain pound in the roof. Maybe I require more calm than most people.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. No thoughts about Father's Day this year. I'm not a father myself and my own Dad has been gone so long that memories are starting to fade. When Father's Day arrives, my birthday is usually not far behind. Occasionally these two events happen on the same day. Mom always used to tell me that I was her Father's Day gift to Dad. I'm not sure Dad would agree.

Hershey is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3455

We still don't have power. Basically, we're camping now. The power company now says that we might not get electricity restored until late Thursday. It's a mess all over town. Traffic lights aren't working. There are still trees in the road. In our part of town businesses that don't have generator power are closed.

As I expected, the tree trimmer never made it over here today. He promised to come tomorrow. We'll see. There are still people ahead of me in line. I don't have a chain saw, but I was able to remove some of the downed tree using a reciprocal saw powered by a generator. Janet helps me haul the limbs out to the tree and by the end of the day we had a huge pile. Most of the neighbors had huge piles of their own.

We filled three large coolers with ice and were able to salvage most of the food in the refrigerator. The ice cream and a few perishable items went bad, but all in all we did pretty well. I discovered that I can run the small refrigerator off one of the generators, but the gas tank isn't very large and I don't think the generator will run continuously overnight. I ned to go buy some more gas tomorrow morning.

The solar powered generator can be completely recharged using solar panels in less than five hours. This works out pretty well since we only use this generator at night so we can run the network and get on the Internet. Some little LED camping lights provide all the lighting we need. I do miss the air conditioner though. It was pretty hot today. Neither of us slept well last night because it was too hot inside. I don't think we're going to start in a hotel though unless it gets really bad. I could buy a pretty capable generator for the price of three nights in a decent hotel. At least we've still got hot water. I definitely needed a shower after spending most of the day hauling logs out to the street.

The Falcon Heavy launch got postponed a week. This is just as well. I'd like to get all the power outage problems resolved before we start planning a trip. This is the first multi-day power outage we've had for a long time. I remember the bad one well though. Living without electricity takes a lot on ingenuity. I wish I had a really large generator that could run off natural gas. Some whole house generators do this. They're pretty expensive though. That's the thing with power outages. If you go buy a big expensive generator, it's almost guaranteed that you won't have another outage for five years. I haven't even gotten much use out of my little gas generator.

I hope I sleep better tonight. It probably helps that I'm really tired this evening. Sawing and hauling heavy logs is a lot more strenuous than walks in the park. I missy morning smoothie. One more reason to go out and get five gallons of gas for the generator tomorrow morning. Janet needs the generator for her hair dryer too. I'm not sure the generator can handle the hair dryer, but we'll see.

Escher is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3452

I decided to get my car serviced today. This was a minor service, so I just stayed at the dealership while the work was being done. As I wandered around looking at cars, it became painfully obvious that I can't really afford to be a Land Rover customer anymore. Prices have really increased since I got my first Land Rover in the early 1990's. I've bought houses for less than the sticker price on some of these cars. Maintenance costs a lot more too. Truthfully, the cost of an oil change seems to double every time I visit the dealership. It's a shame because I've always liked Land Rovers. I still think the British build the best looking cars.

I had breakfast on the way to the dealership and was disappointed that my Shrimp and Grits weren't as good today. The grits were terrible and I think they just used Jimmy Dean sausage in the sauce instead of Andouille sausage. It seemed clear that there was a new chef today. I don't know why turnover is so high in the restaurant business. Nobody stays for very long anywhere. Even the restaurants themselves don't stay around very long. Three or four years is a good run for some. I need to find a family restaurant where the entire staff has been around for decades. You find those places in little towns, but they're few and far between in a big city.

I got a message from my dealer that some of my model trains had sold. He seemed excited by the sale. I was too until I noticed that one of the items had been mispriced. It's hard to complain though. A sale is a sale and at this point I'd just like to sell the entire collection while I'm still alive. I started consigning things over a year ago and there is still a ton of stuff that hasn't sold. My friend selling the trains told me that it could take three years to sell the entire collection. Lord knows how long it will take to sell the guitars. I guess I've just got to be patient.

It looks I'm going to have to be patient with the Falcon Heavy launch as well. I got a letter from NASA today. I thought this was going to be the letter with a firm itinerary for the launch and instructions for picking up my press credentials. Nope. It was a letter explaining the complexities of scheduling a launch with a promise of more information next week. There was a reminder again to be sure to make flexible travel arrangements. I've definitely been warned.

Hey, I'll be ready to go when they are. I feel more confident about my car now. I still need new tires but I probably won't buy them from the dealership. There are too many tire dealers where you can get get exactly the same tires for considerably less. The dealership doesn't even try to be competitive. Most of their customers are rich and don't even care what things cost.

All in all, it wasn't a bad day. The weather was mild. It didn't rain. Even the stock market continued to rally. My feet still hurt after my longer walks, but you can't have everything.

Domino is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3450

I didn't plan well today. I knew that there was rain in the forecast, but thought I'd go from gazebo to gazebo on my morning walk like I had done on earlier rainy days. It didn't work. When I arrived at the shelters it wasn't raining. I impatiently thought I could make it to the next shelter before the rain started again, but I almost always got wet. Strangely, it didn't even seem to matter. It was a gentle rain and being wet seemed better than being hot and sweaty.

I tried to make an appointment to take my car in for service when I got home, but my service adviser said I'd driven the car so little since my last service that it was unnecessary. I should have been glad to hear this, but it left me a little uneasy. I basically wanted the guy to bless the car and promise that nothing expensive would fall off or break during a trip to Florida. No Land Rover dealer in their right mind would ever promise anything like that. Stuff always breaks on these cars. "Don't I even need an oil change," I asked? The guy basically said that I could bring the car in if it made me feel better. I still can't get used to the longer oil change intervals with modern synthetic engine oil. I'm still used to getting the oil changed every 3,000 miles. I always did this with the Defender. Apparently nobody does this with modern cars.

I finally got in touch with my contact at the auction house and made arrangements to re-offer my last piece of unsold art at a lower price. At this point I just want all the things I've consigned to sell. If this stuff comes back to me, I'll have to get a bigger storage warehouse. That would defeat the whole purpose of moving to a smaller storage warehouse. I guess I'm in no hurry, but it would be nice to put this chapter behind me. The guitars still haven't sold and I haven't sold anything from the model train collection in several months. Maybe things will pick up this summer.

I noticed a new flower this morning. I've seen this one before, but I don't see it every year. I'm having trouble identifying this one. It kind of looks like a Blazing Star, but I'm not sure. Ironweed looks a bit like this as well. The weird looking plant seems like a cross between a Dahlia and a Texas Thistle. I'll figure out what it is eventually.

Space X still hasn't finalized a launch date for the Falcon Heavy rocket. I knew this would happen, but I still wish I could start making travel plans. Basically at this point, the launch could be any time this summer. I guess I've just got to be patient. Alternately, I could get so involved with something else that I forget about the launch. That's not going to happen. I'll just be patient.

It looks like there is no rain in the forecast for the rest of the week. I may be forced to mow the grass after all. As the weather grows warmer, I prefer little tasks I can do indoors. I took some satisfaction that the repairs I made to my boots worked. I wore them this morning and the soles are still firmly attached. Maybe I can find something equally insignificant to do tomorrow.

Scooby is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3438

Good news. I got a letter from NASA today saying that my application had been accepted and that I was invited to be their guest for the next Space X Falcon Heavy launch at Kennedy Space Center. It didn't take long for me to accept the invitation. I love this program that NASA has started for bloggers and social media folks. People like me have the opportunity to apply for essentially the same press credentials that major news outlets like CNN and NBC get. NASA thinks that bloggers can reach a completely different audience than traditional media outlets and provides unique behind the scenes access for major launch, planetary, and research events. There is no way I could ever see some of the things I've experienced at these NASA events without a program like this.

I've never been to Kennedy Space Center before. Actually, I've never been to Florida before. This should be quite an experience. In addition to getting to view the launch itself, I'll be able to see the Falcon Heavy up close on the pad, talk to NASA and Space X personnel connected with the mission, and take a behind the scenes tour of Kennedy Space Center. This is kind of what I did in Houston earlier this year. When I was at the Johnson Space Center I actually got to sit inside the new Orion space capsule. I can't wait to write about this new experience.

I couldn't figure out why the toilet wasn't working right this morning. The water wasn't flowing very well. Jeez. The plumbers were just out here yesterday. I took the lid off the tank and discovered that the plumbers has left some parts inside the tank and they'd gotten stuck between the flapper and the flush valve. Were these new parts they failed to install or old parts from the fill valve they removed? I finally determined that these were old parts but these plumbers won't win any awards for neatness. It's a shame. Nobody seems to take pride in their work anymore. The toilet works fine now. Too bad I can't charge the plumbers like they charged me.

I had Corned Beef Hash for breakfast this morning. You don't see this on many menus anymore. This was a nice change of pace from the Shrimp and Grits or French Toast I usually order on these Friday morning outings. Braised corned beef brisket is good any time of day. I'm trying to expand my horizons one meal at a time. I'm just having trouble getting out of the neighborhood.

The temperature was over 90 today. I guess the low winter electric bills are over for a while. Air conditioning is expensive in Texas but at least our air conditioner is working well. Hope it survives another hot summer. When the air conditioning breaks on a hot day you don't care really what it costs to get cool air again. I don't know how people could stand to live down here before air conditioning.

I looked for the lizards again today on my walk but didn't see any. There were lots of bees though. They love the wildflowers.

Ziggy is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3428

For better or worse, I've settled into a routine. I make the bed, I eat breakfast, I take a long morning walk, I take care of the day's unavoidable necessities, I eat dinner, I take an evening walk, I write the blog, and I go to bed. It fills up the day pretty well. I've been doing this over and over again for several weeks. I'd like to think that I'll expand my horizons after a while, but who knows.

Today's unavoidable necessities were mowing the grass and removing the remaining water from the roof. Every time I mow the grass I think I ought to just hire a yard guy like all the other neighbors, but then I realize that mowing is really just walking and it doesn't seem so bad. Keeping the roof dry is a little easier now that it's warmer outside. A lot of last week's rain had already evaporated, so I was able to clear the remaining water in less than twenty minutes. Running the two pumps religiously whenever it rains helps as well. I must be doing something right since we've had a lot of rain this Spring and the roof hasn't leaked for quite a while.

I also took some things to the storage warehouse that Janet was about to throw away and paid my mid-month bills. All in all it was a pretty busy day. I managed to rack up over 18,000 steps without even going to the gym.

The guys who fixed my fiber optic cable told me that they'd take care of canceling the Wednesday appointment I'd made earlier. Today I got a phone message from AT&T saying that a repair crew would be out tomorrow. I didn't even bother calling back since I would probably just complicate matters further. This is probably why my U-Verse bill is so high. Every time I've had a repair, there seems to be confusion like this. I wouldn't be surprised if a crew comes out tomorrow and installs the same line all over again.

If I had more faith in my car, the weather, and the other drivers on the road I might start taking some road trips. When I was in college I had an International Harvester Metro Mite Van. I drove all over America and from one end of Canada to the other. The truck wasn't very reliable, but it wasn't a problem. There were International Harvester dealers with excellent mechanics in every little town. These guys mostly worked on tractors, but my little truck never presented a problem for them. Somehow I don't think I'd have the same success driving a Land Rover through rural America. It's kind of ironic. Land Rovers are supposed to go anywhere but you never see them outside of big cities.

I'll probably end up going nowhere, but at least I'm thinking about traveling. Thinking about something is always a good starting point. I hope I make the cut and get selected to go to the Falcon Heavy launch this summer. Going to Kennedy Space Center could be the catalyst I need to do many other things. With any luck I should find out by the end of the month.

Lady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3420

There is a brand new opportunity for me to attend a launch at Kennedy Space Center as a guest of NASA. You never know if your application to attend these events will be accepted but what do I have to lose. When I learned I would be applying to view and blog about the next Space X Falcon Heavy launch I didn't waste any time. I've already sent in my application. I've been accepted to attend NASA events in the past. I've also been rejected. We'll see what happens. All I know is that it would be really cool to go behind the scenes on a Falcon Heavy launch. I'm a huge fan of Space X.

I need to start listening to the pollen count on the local morning weather. My allergies were terrible today. It's weird how quickly this changes. Yesterday the air was clear. Today, my eyes were burning and I was blowing my nose continuously during my morning walk. Allergies aren't going to stop me though. I have already added a short evening walk to my daily routine. Now, I am walking close to five miles a day. I see other people walking faster and longer, but this isn't a contest. It's just important for me to stay occupied right now.

I wrote another letter to my sister this afternoon. I do this about once a month. Sometimes I think she's taking this Luddite thing a bit too far. It sure would be easier to stay in touch if she had an e-mail account. I guess it won't kill me to continue putting my thoughts on paper. After all, I'm the guy who likes old TV Westerns and I rarely miss an episode of Perry Mason. I'm basically lazy though. I'm not fond of texting people, but I do like e-mail. Using e-mail has saved me an enormous amount of time over the years.

Janet has arranged for us to go visit and play with the Dalmatians at the rescue kennel. We can't walk the dogs because of the kennel's location, but we can play with them in a large room. The dogs already get a lot of attention at the kennel, but maybe these visits will help with socialization. At any rate, I'm looking forward to seeing some Dalmatians again. I see lots of dogs on my morning walks, but no Dalmatians. Dot and Dash were the only Dalmatians in the neighborhood. I need to remember to bring my camera and photograph any new dogs. After taking pictures for almost twenty years, I've probably got one of the biggest collections of Dalmatian photos in the world by now.

Peaches are finally starting to become available again. My morning smoothies always taste better when I add a peach to the other fruit. Life is pretty simple when the addition of a peach can make your day better. In theory, tomorrow should be a good day. I've got a fresh peach to add to my smoothie and I'll get to pet a few dogs. I hope my allergies behave a little better tomorrow. I've just about run out of Kleenex.

Patches is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 3395

Every year around this time I get an e-mail from GoDaddy asking me to confirm the contact settings for a domain that isn't mine. Every year, I try to call GoDaddy to find out what is going on. I can never connect with customer service because I don't have the correct customer ID or PIN number. "I'm sorry, we can't authenticate your records," an automated voice says and then the line hangs up. I want to tell somebody that of course I don't have the right customer ID because I'm not a customer. The utter futility of dealing with automated customer support systems says everything you need to know about the world we live in today. Good luck if you want to call someone and ask a simple question. It's almost impossible. I'll probably get the same stupid e-mail next year.

I was sad to hear that the little Israeli lunar probe crashed on landing today. It almost made it. The main engine cut out just a few hundred feet above the lunar surface. I was hoping that this inexpensive, privately funded spacecraft would make it. The moon, or anywhere else for that matter, shouldn't be the exclusive purview of big governments.

I was also disappointed that Julian Assange was arrested. Assange should be viewed as a hero instead on an enemy. Everything he has revealed on Wikileaks has turned out to be true. Governments, including our own, shouldn't be able to hide under a cloak of secrecy when they are doing something wrong. There are no good guys in Washington. They all claim secrecy is vital for national security when the truth would damage them. On the other hand, they clamor for "full disclosure" when they think the truth would damage their opponents. It's disgusting.

At least there was some good news today. The second falcon heavy launch was a resounding success. The satellite went into orbit and all three of the booster stages landed successfully so they can be used again. Elon Musk has been able to do something that has so far eluded every government space agency in the world. We need a lot more people like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs and a lot fewer folks  like we've got in congress right now.

Dash continues to be a mystery. I don't understand how he can continue to walk in the park when he can barely stand up at home. The contrast is astonishing. He needs assistance on his walks, but his legs move properly and when he is moving he can support his own weight. Even when he can barely stand up in the mornings, he still tries to head for the back gate. These walks seem really important to him.

I wish the walks weren't so exhausting. As soon as we return home Dash's legs turn to jelly. He immediately goes to sleep. It is often hours before he moves again. We were able to get him to eat some chicken and even some Hills ID yesterday so the diarrhea has subsided. If he gets really hungry, he'll eat, but he just doesn't have much of an appetite. I've seen all these signs before. Dash is slowly shutting down. I don't know how much time he has, but he has made it clear that he's not ready to go quite yet. We'll do our best to keep him comfortable and happy for as long as we can.

I finally made an appointment to get a haircut tomorrow. If Dash does well in the morning, maybe I'll go out for breakfast too. Who knows at this point. I can kind of relate to Dash's loss of appetite. The reasons are different but I've lost interest in food too. In case you're interested, today's watch used to belong to Alice Cooper.

Tyson is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2966

I've been interested in space for a long time, but I never thought I'd see a sporty convertible floating above the earth with a mannequin in a space suit at the wheel. The long awaited Falcon Heavy launch was spectacular. I thought it was audacious of Elon Musk to send his own Tesla Roadster to Mars on the Falcon Heavy's maiden voyage. It was pretty cool to see the two booster rockets return to Cape Canaveral and land simultaneously as well. If this doesn't get people interested in space travel again, I don't know what will.

I defrosted the evaporator coil in the freezer today. There was definitely ice on the coil, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I probably could have gone another week before the refrigerator stopped working. It's a nuisance to take all the food out of the freezer, remove the shelves, and unscrew the back panel to gain access to the frozen coil, but melting the ice with a hair dryer seems to cure the problem every time. It seems odd now that frost free refrigerators are a relatively new development and my parents routinely defrosted their refrigerator this way.

After a thousand point drop yesterday, the stock market had a thousand point intraday swing today. The market was down over 500 points at the open and was up over 500 points at the close. It was a very volatile day for traders. At times like these I think it is best to lay low and do nothing. The economy is good and businesses are thriving, so I think the market will recover. If there wasn't so much high volume program trading by machines, the sell off probably wouldn't have happened in the first place. They say a lot of people who were shorting the volatility index because the market has been so stable lately got totally wiped out. I bet they won't do that again.

Dash seems to be feeling a little better. He still won't eat when he gets up, but his appetite seems to return about mid-morning. I don't know if this is permanent or not, but adjustments can be made. The only real problem is getting Dash to take his morning pills. If the morning and evening meds didn't have to be given twelve hours apart, it would be easy to just have Dash take the morning meds later in the day. Unfortunately, that would push the schedule for his the evening meds back until after our bedtime. Hopefully, this loss of appetite is temporary. It certainly makes life more difficult.

I hear thunder outside, but Dash still seems calm and normal. That's odd. Maybe he's growing deaf along with his many other problems. Dot was virtually deaf in the final months before she passed away and the deafness was a blessing. For the first time in her life, she wasn't scared of storms.

I have no plans for tomorrow. With no deadlines to meet, I'll fret about my jury summons. Then I'll fret about Dash's lack of appetite. Then I'll wonder why our cable bill went up again and how long my refrigerator repair will last. I don't think I'll fret about rain. The rain is supposed to be over by morning.

Landry is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2956

Dash looked so sleepy last night that I didn't bother to wake him up to go pee before I went to bed. Big mistake. He woke me up three times during the night needing to go outside. Since it started raining during the night, I had to clean him off each time so he wouldn't get the bed muddy when we went back to sleep. Dash is no quicker doing his business in the rain than when it is dry. It was a long night, but at least he didn't throw up.

I was tired this morning, but as soon as we started our morning walk I wished we'd gotten up earlier. There was a heavy fog that was lifting rapidly. I took a few pictures as we walked, realizing that the fog was probably much more dramatic an hour earlier while I was still asleep. I love walking through fog. I guess this is the way I like to see the world.

By the time we returned home, the sky was already clearing. I had missed my chance to photograph ghostly sailboats again. I would have preferred to miss my chance to run Saturday errands, but no such luck. Saturday has always been a day to run errands.

I needed to pick up some bulbs for the sconce lamps in the living room. These are the only lamps in the house that still use incandescent bulbs. For several years I have been watching the price of these halogen bulbs gradually increasing as the price of LED bulbs continued to decrease. LED bulbs used to be super expensive and now they are quite reasonable. Today for the first time, the the price of the incandescent bulbs was actually higher than the LED bulbs. Sign of the times, I guess. In a few years, I probably won't even be able to find these bulbs at all.

It's hard to believe tax season is already here again. I'm already starting to receive tax documents in the mail. I have to be careful not to throw these things away. Most of them look exactly like junk mail. I almost threw some documents away this morning. They need to stamp "important tax document" on every envelope for people like me. I get so much junk mail that I don't even open most of it anymore. The chances are pretty high that I occasionally throw away something important.

I wish there was something interesting to watch on TV while I was doing chores around the house. The cable news stations just talk about politics. The local news just talks about overnight crime. I can't stand daytime talk shows like Ellen or Steve Harvey. I'd like a channel that just showed TED talks. They have something like this on the radio. Why not on TV?

It's alarming how little interests me these days. I guess the flame is still flickering though. I can't wait to watch the Falcon Heavy launch on February 6. I'd love to see this thing in person, but watching on my computer will have to do. There is something really appealing about sending a red Tesla Roadster to Mars. If the weather is clear next Wednesday I'll get up early to watch the lunar eclipse. The whole thing won't be visible in Dallas, but I should be able to see something before the moon sets around sunrise. Maybe there are other interesting things in February as well. Right now, I'd settle for another foggy day.

Sophie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2953

It was all about Dash today. We got up early to take him to his vet appointment and hoped for the best. Not only is Dash terrible in the car, he's usually not very good when we get where we're going. Today we needed to do three things that he hates. He has an eye infection and will need to take eye drops for a week or so. He always runs away when I try to put the drops in his eye. He was also way overdue for a nail trim and needed his anal glands expressed. He hates these things too. The only thing in our favor was that we were seeing Dash's favorite vet today.

The eye exam went well. Most dogs don't like it when you shine a light in their eye and Dash was no exception. He was well behaved though, so we dodged a bullet. The vet did a test to make sure his tear ducts weren't impacted or clogged and then prescribed some antibiotic drops. I wish I could apply the drops as well as she does. You've got to be quick and decisive.

The vet told us that our friends at the cancer center had good reason to be concerned about trimming Dash's nails, sharing stories of nail trims that went horribly wrong. It is apparently not uncommon for dogs to bleed profusely when their nails are trimmed too close to the quick. The vet was very careful and conservative about how much she trimmed, but one of Dash's nails still bled a little. This is going to be an ongoing problem. We can't ignore Dash's nails, because the longer they get, the greater the risk that he will tear one out. We definitely don't want another episode like the one where he tore his dew claw out in the car. Dash doesn't like it when you mess with his feet though, so nail trims will never be easy. At least there were no problems when he had his anal glands expressed.

After his adventure at the vet, Dash was eager to go back to bed. We skipped our morning walk and I ate a late breakfast. By the time I washed the dishes, took a shower, and cleaned up the dog poop in the yard, it was time for lunch. I don't actually eat lunch myself, but Dash always does. We started giving him a rice cake for lunch years ago because it kept him occupied without making him fat. Now we add some dry food to the rice cake, because it is the only time of day when he will eat kibble. When you start a ritual with a dog, you can never end it. They always remember.

Dash we eager to go outside after he had eaten, so I was able to take him on a nice long walk. The only problem with a noon walk is that it fouls up the evening walk. Apparently, Dash needs a certain amount of time between walks. Just as I expected, Dash refused to leave the yard when it was time for his regular evening walk. I put all his gear on twice, but he just wasn't interested. He didn't refuse to eat though. He was hungry all day.

I turned on the computer out of habit, but there was nothing going on. I've finished my writing jobs for the week and nobody seems interested in changing their website. I need to find something to watch on Netflix because I've certainly got the time. Maybe I'll watch Black Mirror. They say it's like a modern version of the Twilight Zone.

Space X did a static firing of the Falcon Heavy rocket today. This means that it will probably be heading toward Mars with Elon's Tesla Roadster sometime next week. Now this is something I definitely want to watch. There is also going to be an eclipse of the moon toward the end of the month. I may not be interested in much, but astronomy, space, and dogs still keep me tethered to the world.

Holly is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day